Well, in my opinion this song is about being a young & maybe a little naive &/or introverted girl and finding yourself loving a man who is at first very charming, carefree & outgoing, and seems at first to be without limits, as in
"There was a time
you opened up every doorway
you didn't mind if everything
wasn't your way"
then that man starts to gradually become more introverted & shows their more possessive/obsessive side to you as the relationship progresses, even while they keep up the appearance of being carefree & outgoing to everyone else,
"Don't pull away
that goes against what you told me
I look in your eyes
I realize what you've sold me
is love in a vacuum"
so you confront them about the way they're acting and of course they deny it,
"I think you've changed
but you insist that
that's not true"
quite possibly they are an addict of some sort, my guess would be cocaine, &/or showing very obsessive behavior towards you (early on in the video for this song we see the man hanging a picture up, it is a very large portrait of Aimee & it is prominently displayed in his/their apartment for the duration of the song), thus their "love in a vacuum",
"You look so strange, so distant
that you're hardly you
Now I can see
how you have been acting different
You say it's me
but I know
that it isn't
it's love in a vacuum"
but still you are in love with them and don't want to leave them and you know that they are truly in love with you and they don't want you to leave them either, maybe they are convinced you can save them from themself, maybe they are so broken that the possibility of an overdose &/or suicide attempt is very real and you want to get through to them that their behavior not only dangerous but it is also just pissing you off and if they don't wise up they run the risk of loosing you, as in the lines
"You will be lonely
if you leave me alone", so you want to save them but can't get through to them due to the addiction &/or emotional problems they have,
"Love in a vacuum
and that's not enough
love in a vacuum
You will be lonely
you'll be the only one who feels this way
You will be lonely
if you leave me alone
You will be lonely
you'll be the only one who feels this way
it's just not enough"
you want them to understand that the love they are giving you is not enough when it is filtered through the vacuum of their drug addiction &/or emotional impairment,
"You will be lonely
you'll be the only one who feels this way
it's just not enough
and just wait
you will be lonely
Love in a vacuum
Love in a vacuum
and that's not enough
Love in a vacuum".
'Love In A Vacuum' for me is a hauntingly truthful acute argument on the loneliness of obsession and almost inevitable loss of love that follows people who are broken in some way or another; the obsessives, the coke heads, the drunks, addicts or the just-plain-old emotionally broken; a razor sharp, lyrically driven, deceptively poppy, yet ultimately-depressing-in-the-best-way song.
Quintessential Aimee Mann.
Now, I grew up down an old dirt road in a town you wouldn't know
My pop's picked the place up for fifteen hundred bucks back in 1964
My grandfather was a drinker, back in the day, he put him down
But a war is known to change a man and the whiskey's known to change a man, but
That's not me
I rarely drink from the bottle but I'll smoke a little weed
I still live in the sticks where you wouldn't go
In a town of twelve hundred off an old dirt road
And a country boy is all I'll ever be
Now, its been twelve years since I sold my soul to the devil in L.A.
He said sign your name here on the dotted line and your songs, they all will play
He set up shop on Sunset, he put me up at the Marquee
He said "you want to sell a million records boy, you better listen to me"
He said "change your style, whiten your smile, you can lose a couple of pounds
If you want to live this life, you better lose that wife, do you need your friends around?"
And I said, no, that's not me
Cause the biggest things in life are your friends and family
And I like my jeans and my old t-shirts
And a couple extra pounds never really hurt
'Cause a country boy is all I'll ever be
'Cause Hank taught me just how to stay alive
You'll never catch me out the house without my .9 or .45
I got a big orange tractor and a diesel truck
And my idea of heaven is chasing whitetail bucks
And as a country boy, I know I can survive
Now, two flags fly above my land that really sum up how I feel
One is the colors that fly high and proud, the red, the white, the blue
The other one's got a rattlesnake with a simple statement made
"Don't Tread On Me" is what is says and I'll take that to my grave
Because this is me
I'm proud to be American and strong in my beliefs
And I've said it before but I'll say it again
'Cause I've never needed government to hold my hand
And I've said it before but I'll say it again
'Cause my family's always fought and died to save this land
And a country boy is all I'll ever be
My pop's picked the place up for fifteen hundred bucks back in 1964
My grandfather was a drinker, back in the day, he put him down
But a war is known to change a man and the whiskey's known to change a man, but
That's not me
I rarely drink from the bottle but I'll smoke a little weed
I still live in the sticks where you wouldn't go
In a town of twelve hundred off an old dirt road
And a country boy is all I'll ever be
Now, its been twelve years since I sold my soul to the devil in L.A.
He said sign your name here on the dotted line and your songs, they all will play
He set up shop on Sunset, he put me up at the Marquee
He said "you want to sell a million records boy, you better listen to me"
He said "change your style, whiten your smile, you can lose a couple of pounds
If you want to live this life, you better lose that wife, do you need your friends around?"
And I said, no, that's not me
Cause the biggest things in life are your friends and family
And I like my jeans and my old t-shirts
And a couple extra pounds never really hurt
'Cause a country boy is all I'll ever be
'Cause Hank taught me just how to stay alive
You'll never catch me out the house without my .9 or .45
I got a big orange tractor and a diesel truck
And my idea of heaven is chasing whitetail bucks
And as a country boy, I know I can survive
Now, two flags fly above my land that really sum up how I feel
One is the colors that fly high and proud, the red, the white, the blue
The other one's got a rattlesnake with a simple statement made
"Don't Tread On Me" is what is says and I'll take that to my grave
Because this is me
I'm proud to be American and strong in my beliefs
And I've said it before but I'll say it again
'Cause I've never needed government to hold my hand
And I've said it before but I'll say it again
'Cause my family's always fought and died to save this land
And a country boy is all I'll ever be
Lyrics submitted by MusicFREAK20
Country Boy Lyrics as written by Paul Jay Lewis Donald Gallacher
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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This song seemingly tackles the methods of deception those who manipulate others use to get victims to follow their demands, as well as diverting attention away from important issues. They'll also use it as a means to convince people to hate or kill others by pretending acts of terrorism were committed by the enemy when the acts themselves were done by the masters of control to promote discrimination and hate. It also reinforces the idea that these manipulative forces operate in various locations, infiltrating everyday life without detection, and propagate any and everywhere.
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Aaron Lewis is the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the post-grunge group Staind. This is the first single from his debut solo album, which he describes as being somewhere between James Taylor and his Staind hit "It's Been Awhile." When we spoke with Lewis in 2011, he told us: "I'm pretty damn proud of 'Country Boy.' Just because it's my story. And no matter how many of those things that are in there are cliché country things, they're true. And that's the difference. I love that damn song. I didn't go to Nashville and pick out from a catalogue of songs, songs that I felt fit the image that I was trying to portray. I wrote that song. I wrote all those songs. I mean, it is so old-school country, it's awesome. And then there's other flavors of it, too - there's still flavors there that are teeter-tottering. I haven't just completely lost myself in the country thing, if that makes any sense."
This song features guest spots by Chris Young, George Jones and Charlie Daniels. "I've got to say that 'Country Boy' is definitely in the stylings of 'Country Boy Can Survive' (by Hank Williams jr.)," he told Billboard Magazine. "I'm not going to try and deny that correlation."
Growing up in rural Vermont, Lewis spent summers with his World War II veteran grandfather hunting and fishing. "Country was the background music to my childhood," said the singer. "My grandfather listened to Merle Haggard, Hank Williams, Hank Williams Jr. and all of the greats. When Staind did our first tour with Kid Rock in 1999, I rode the bus with him on a couple occasions, and we bonded over this music. I haven't been able to let go of it since then. George Jones and Charlie Daniels are two of the genre's legends, and Chris Young represents the new regime," he added regarding this song. "It's definitely a personal, autobiographical song, and I'm very thankful that they all participated."
The video features Jones, Daniels and Young in the studio and draws from Lewis' family archives. "The video really is me. This is probably the most I've ever participated in any video that I've been involved with. I added a lot to the mix to tell the story."
When this debuted at #59 on the Country Songs chart dated February 5, 2011, George Jones became the first artist to appear on the list in each of the last seven decades. He first appeared on the chart with "Why Baby Why," which peaked at #4 the week of Oct. 29, 1955.
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